In underground mining and construction, underground drill rigs are used for performing drilling operations of different types. One common field of use for underground drill rigs is to reinforce roof and/or wall sections with reinforcement material such as rebar bolts. For performing drilling operations, the underground drill rigs require a supply of drilling expendables. Despite all attempts to create safe working environments, underground mining still poses hazardous working conditions at times. The supply of drilling expendables to the drill rig presents potential safety risks when conducted manually. Furthermore, underground drill rigs are operated in increasingly narrow space confines.
It is therefore desirable to replace manual work for supplying drilling expendables to the drill rigs with mechanized work by providing manipulators which provide the drilling expendables in an at least partly mechanized fashion. However, in view of the narrow space confines in underground mining situations, previous attempts in the industry have not yet sufficiently met the demand for safe and at the same time space-saving solutions.